With This Ring Read Online Free Page A

is."
    She studied him thoughtfully. "I don't even know you. Maybe you're a serial killer."
    "I'm perfectly harmless. Really. I'm a photographer, and I work for
World of Nature
magazine. Here. Look at my driver's license and my press card." He reached for his wallet. Suddenly, it was very important that she say 'yes.' He couldn't just walk away without seeing her again.
    She shook her head. "That's okay, I believe you. Serial killers wouldn't bother to bring an abandoned kitten to a shelter."
    "Ted Bundy did," he pointed out.
    She grimaced. "You just
had
to say that, didn't you?"
    Sam laughed. "Sure you don't want to see my I.D. Maybe check me out?"
    "Well, after that remark, maybe I should." Then she smiled. "But I don't think I need to. I'm a pretty good judge of people."
    "Well, then, what do you say?"
    "Sure. I'd love to go to dinner with you tonight."
    He knew his grin must look idiotic, but he felt ridiculously happy—out of all proportion to a simple acceptance of a dinner date. "What time are you through here?"
    "We close at six."
    "I'll be back," he promised.
    "I'll be waiting."
    * * *
    Amy watched Sam Robbins fold his tall, muscular frame into a bright red Corvette. He waved before pulling out of the parking lot, and she waved back.
    She knew what she'd just done—accepting a date with a man she had only met ten minutes ago, who really
could
be a serial killer—was foolishly impetuous, perhaps even dangerous.
    Yet she hadn't been able to help herself.
He was the one.
    She had known it the moment she'd gazed into those warm, golden-brown eyes. There had been an instant connection. An instant recognition. It was crazy. Ridiculously romantic. Totally improbable.
    But it was also undeniable. It was just as her mother had always said; when she met the right man, she would know it.
    Her mother was right. Amy did know it.
He was the one.
     

Chapter Three
     
    "You sound happy," Justin said. "Things must have gone well with Owen yesterday."
    Sam broke off in mid-whistle. The reminder of the less than satisfactory meeting took some of the edge off his pleasure. "My good mood has nothing to do with work."
    Justin held the back door wide, and as he did, Major, the part yellow Lab, part mutt that had originally been Sam's dog but had lived with Justin for the past six years, bounded into the kitchen and skidded to a stop in front of Sam.
    The dog barked joyously, and Sam gave him an affectionate head rub and knelt so the dog could lick his face. Once Major calmed down, Sam stood and walked into the kitchen of Justin's Highland Village townhouse and thought again, as he had every time he was here, how much the place reflected Justin's personality. It was filled with carefully chosen, comfortable furniture and was almost painfully clean and orderly. Even Major's water and food bowls, which sat in the corner, were neat, with no spilled dog food or slopped-over water.
    Without even looking, Sam knew the pantry was stocked with neatly-aligned food and so were the refrigerator and freezer. Sam thought of his own apartment—sparsely furnished with only the barest necessities, clothes thrown anywhere they landed, and the only food in sight a box of stale crackers and a few cans of baked beans.
    Not for the first time, Sam pondered the phenomenon of their friendship—two such disparate personalities, opposites in every way.
    "So what happened?" Justin said. "Did you win the lottery or something?"
    "It's not that big a deal. I met someone new today, and I'm taking her out tonight, that's all."
    "She must be quite a babe to put you in such a good mood." Justin walked over to the refrigerator. "You want a beer?"
    "Sure." Sam pulled out a kitchen chair and straddled it.
    Justin removed two bottles of Beck's beer from the refrigerator and handed Sam one. "So? What is she? A model? A dancer? An Oilers' cheerleader?"
    Sam grinned sheepishly. "Nothing like that. She works at the shelter. I liked her, so I asked her out." It was weird.